Adjustable rail-chair.



' A G. LIEBMANNL ADJUSTABLE RAIL CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 21, 1913.

1,126 1 7 Patented an. 26, 1915.

THE NORRIS PETERS cO.. PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHING TON. D. C.

Unison earns Parana onnic.

AUGUST G. LIEBMANN, 0E BUTTE, MONTANA, ASSIGNOR TO VIGNOLES BAIL CHAIR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORIPORATION OF DELAWARE.

ADJUSTABLE RAIL-CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26 1915..

Application filed August 27, 1913. Serial No. 787,013.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, AUGUST G. LIEBMANN, citizen of the United States, residing at Butte, in the county of Silverbow and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Rail- Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway track appliances and particularly to rail chairs.

The particular rail chair forming the subject matter of this application is designed primarily for use in snow sheds, tunnels and other places where a rapid adjustment of the rail either laterally or vertically is required, and wherein the workman is placed in cramped quarters where he must realine and resurface a rail under chance of being injured by passing trains.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a chair so constructed that a rapid adjustment of the rails may be secured without complete disalinement of track and without any hazard of accident to the workmen or accidents to passing trains.

A further object of the invention is to provide a very simple, cheaply constructed rail chair wherein the rail shall be braced against lateral, vertical or tipping thrusts, wherein the rail shall be securely held clamped upon the chair, and wherein the rail may be adjusted either vertically or laterally with relation to the chair without the necessity of respiking the tie or readjusting the chair itself.

A further object of the inventiton is to provide means whereby a rail may be readily shifted laterally by a workman without the necessity of employing a section gang with special tools for the purpose.

A further object is the provision of posi tive locking means whereby the rail engaging members may be held locked in any .desired shifted position.

A still further object is to so construct the chair that the rail engaging members may rise vertically with the rail so as to permit a shim to be inserted between the rail base and the base plate of the chair.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tie, a rail, and a rail chair constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the construction shown in Fig.

1, the web of the rail being in section. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the rail chair and tie, the rail being in section and the tie partly broken away. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the adjusting bolts and the adjusting sleeve therefor. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary end view of one of the extensions 10 showing a modified form of slot therein.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters. Referring to these drawings, A designates a tie and B a rail. The improved chair comprises a bed plate 2 which is formed of a rolled plate of metal having a width preferably equal to that of the tie, the metal of the plate adjacent its opposite ends being deformed to provide longitudinally extending corrugated portions 3 which constitute abutments extending parallel to the rail B and spaced from each other a distance greater than the base of the rail. These abutments are of course hollow and open at opposite ends. The bed plate is held upon the tie by means of screw spikes 4 of any usual or ordinary form but preferably these screw spikes where relatively soft timber is used to form the ties, pass downward into dowels 5 of hard wood which are inserted into the tie. This construction of the tie is permitted because of the fact that the rail chair does not have to be shifted nor the tie respiked inprder to laterally or vertically adjust the rai Disposed on either side of the rail and bearing against the web thereof and against the head and base of the rail are rail braces 6. Disposed against each rail brace is a wedging member, designated 7,, which is slightly longer than the adjacent rail brace and is formed at its ends with inwardly extending lips 8 which engage over the ends of the rail brace and prevent the rail brace from sliding longitudinally with relation to the wedging member. The outer face 9 of the wedging member is inclined as shown clearly in Fig. 2. Each wedging member is formed at its larger end with an outwardly projecting extension 10 having an inwardly turned lug 11 at its extremity. Each extension 10 is formed with an aperture 12 having a vertically disposed slot 13 communicating therewith.

Disposed between the inclined face 9 of each wedging member and the inner face of the corresponding abutment is a tightening wedge 14. The outer face of this tightening wedge is fiat and adapted to bear firmly against the inner face of the abutment and the inner face of each tightening wedge is inclined to coact with the inclined face of the adjusting wedging member. Each of the tightening wedges 14 is formed with an outwardly projecting extension 15 which is formed with an aperture 16 having a vertical slot 17 extending therefrom. Passing through each of the abutments and through the extensions 10 and 15 of the wedges 7 and 14 is a bolt 19. This bolt at one end is formed with a head 20, and extending from the head to the shank of'the bolt is a fin 21 having an inclined face. The other end of the bolt is screw threaded for engagement with a nut 22 and disposed upon the bolt and freely rotatable thereon is a washer 23 comprising a sleeve and an annular head, the sleevebeing formed with a projecting fin 24 corresponding to the fin 21 and having an inclined edge face.

The parts when in operative position are as illustrated in Fig. 1. The rail braces 6 are disposed against the rail. The adjusting wedges 7 are disposed to engage the rail braces and the tightening wedges 14 are disposed between the wedges 7 and the abutments. The bolts 19 are passed through the abutments and through the extensions of the wedges 7 and 14 respectively. The fin 21 extendsthrough the slot 13 of the extension 10 and bears against the lower face of the upper wall of the corresponding abut- -ment while the fin 24 of the washer 23 extends through the slot 17 of the perforation 16 in the extension 15 and also engages the upper wall of the abutment. The nuts 22 on the bolts are then turned up so that the fins 21 and 24 will be forced into wedging engagement with the upper walls of the abutment and will thus act to force the wedging members 7 a and 14 downward and hold the rail in firm engagement with the base plate.

The openings or perforations 12 and 16 are likewise formed with laterally extending notches 25 which are adapted to receive the small ends of the fins 21 or 24 and support the bolts when the fins are turned laterally. When the bolts 19 are turned so that the fins 21 and 24 extend laterally with the inner extremities of 'the fins inserted within the notches 25 a relativelythick shim may be inserted beneath the rail. To provide a vertical adjustment of the rail, the bolts 19 are fins will then act as substitute heads. The nuts are then tightened up after the shim has been put in place. This provides for maximum shimming.

In Fig. 5 I show a modified form of the opening through the extensions of the wedging members and binding wedges for the re ception of the bolt. In this form of the device 10 indicates the extension of the wedge member and 12 the opening which is vertically elongated for the reception of the bolt 19, it being understood that the opening in the extension of the tightening wedge will be of like formation. This bolt has the fin 21 which bears against the upper wall of the abutment in the manner heretofore described. The opening 12 is formed with a laterally extending notch 25 for the purpose heretofore described.

By tightening up upon the nuts 22, the tightening wedges will be forced inward, thus wedging the rail braces against the rail. By loosening upon one of the nuts and withdrawing the tightening wedge on that side and tightening up on the other nut and thereby forcing the corresponding tightening wedge inward, the rail will be shifted toward one of the other abutments. The rail is elevated to any height required by means of shims, one shim being illustrated and designated 26. It will be understood, of course, that the fins 24 and 21 are adjusted outward to permit of a relatively large shim being used and are tightened or forced inward when a thinner shim is used, the head of each bolt and the washer 23 being nearest to each other when no shim is used. \Vhen the thickest shim is used, the fins 21 and 24 may be turned entirely out of engagement with the apertures in the extensions 10 and 15 so that the shank of the bolt itself will bear against the lower face of the upper wall of the abutment.

It is to be particularly noted that the means whereby the wedging members 14 and 7 are shifted relatively to each other, that is, the bolts 19, extend longitudinally. of the track and not transversely thereto so that a workman may readily operate the nuts 22 in cramped quarters, and that turning up uponthe nuts 22 will cause either the clamping of the rail down tight upon the bed plate or the lateral adjustment of the rail.

It may be said with regard to this chair aside from the manner in which adjustment is secured and the advantages incident thereto, the chair will very much lengthen the life of a tie by distributing the pressure of the rail over the face of the tie and, furthermore, by the fact that the chair may be held permanently upon the tie without the necessity of respiking the chair in order to adjust the raileither vertically or laterally. Thus treated ties may be used with my chair where in ordinary practice treated ties are economically impractical for the reason that the life of the ordinary tie which is constantly being respiked is too short to make it worth while to treat the tie. Where mechanical abrasion is present it is not economical to treat the tie. Further the chair heretofore described conforms to the requirements laid down in the final report of the Block Signal and Train Control Board of the Interstate Commerce Commission in that it solidly supports the rail against vertical and lateral thrust and against tipping stress and permits the rail to be vertically adjusted by means of shims and laterally adjusted to gage. F or the reason that this chair is adapted to be permanently attached to a tie and does not have to be shifted in order to adjust the rail, it is possible to use this chair upon ties of concrete or metal. These ties are impossible of use where the rail must be adj usted directly upon the tie as there is no means provided for respiking or changing the position of the rail clamping or fastening members.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A rail chair of the character described comprising a base plate having oppositely disposed abutments, coacting wedging members adapted to be disposed between each abutment and a rail, and means for ad justing said wedging members, toward or from each other and vertically.

2. A rail chair of the character described comprising a base plate having oppositely disposed abutments, coacting wedging members adapted to be disposed between each abutment and a rail, means for adjusting said wedging members toward or from each other and vertically, and means for locking said wedging members in their adjusted positions.

3. A rail chair of the character described comprising a base plate having oppositely disposed hollow abutments, coacting wedging members adapted to be disposed be tween each abutment and a rail, and means passing through the abutments and engaging the wedging members whereby the wedging members may be drawn toward each other and held in adjusted position.

at. A rail chair of the character described comprising a base plate having oppositely disposed abutments, coacting wedging members adapted to be disposed between each abutment and a rail, and bolts operatively engaging said wedging members and abutments and adapted to draw the wedging members together.

5. A rail chair of the character described comprising a base plate having upstanding abutments, wedging members having outer inclined faces, wedging members having inner inclined faces coacting with the first named wedging members, a pair of said wedging members co-acting with each abutment, each wedging member of each pair having a laterally projecting extension, and bolts passing through the extensions of said wedging members and through said abutments.

6. A rail chair comprising a base plate corrugated adjacent each end to form upstanding parallel hollow abutments, rail braces, wedging members engaging said rail braces and having outer inclined faces, wedging members disposed between the first named wedging members and the abutments and having inner inclined faces. said last named wedging members having lateral extensions, and bolts passing through the lateral extensions of the wedging members and through the abutments. I

7. A rail chair of the character described comprising a base plate having upstanding abutments, wedging members adapted to be disposed between each abutment and a rail, said wedging member-shaving lateral extensions, each extension being formed with a bolt opening having a slot communicating therewith, and bolts passing through the abutments, each of said bolts having at one end a head formed with a wedging fin, a nut engaging the other end of the bolt, and a washer rotatably mounted upon the bolt and having a wedging fin coacting with the head.

8. A rail chair comprising a base plate having upstanding hollow abutments, oppositely disposed adjusting wedges located be tween the abutments and each having an outer inclined face and each being formed at its larger end with a lateral extension, oppositely disposed tightening wedges having inner inclined faces coacting with the first named wedges, said tightening wedges having lateral extensions. the extensions of the tightening wedges and adjusting wedges being each formed with a bolt aperture havig a radially directed slot, and bolts one for each abutment, each of said bolts having a fin formed at one end, the edge face of the fin being inclined, a nut engaging the outer end of each bolt, and a washer mounted upon each bolt and having a radial fin formed with an inclined edge face, said fins being adapted to engage in the radial slots of the extension apertures and engaging with the inner face of the abutment.

9. In a rail chair of the character described, oppositely disposed abutments, oppositely disposed pairs of coacting wedges, oppositely disposed rail braces engaged by said wedges, and wedge holding means passing through the abutments and having wedging engagement with the wall of each abutment whereby to force the wedges downwardly.

10. The combination with a tie and a rail thereon, of a rail chair having oppositely disposed upstanding abutments, rail braces engaging one on each side of the rail, adjusting wedges longer than the rail braces and having inwardly extending lips engaging over the ends of the rail braces, each of said adjusting wedges having its outer face inclined and being provided at its larger end with a lateral extension, a tightening wedge disposed between each abutment and the corresponding adjusting wedge and each having a lateral extension, the lateral extensions of the adjusting and tightening wedges being formed with bolt apertures, and bolts passing through the abutments and the extensions of the adjusting and tightening wedges, and means for securing wedgin g engagement between said bolts and the abutments whereby to force the tightening wedges downwardly.

11. A rail chair including a base-plate having an upstanding abutment, (to-acting wedging members adapted to be disposed between said abutment and a rail, and means for adjusting said wedging members toward or from each other and vertically.

12. A rail chair including a base-plate having oppositely disposed abutments, and co-acting wedging members adapted to be disposed between each abutment and a rail and movable toward or from each other and vertically for adjusting the rail with respect to the base-plate.

13. The combination with a base plate having spaced upstanding abutments, of a rail resting directly on the base plate or on a shim between said abutirents, means for permanently securing the base-plate to a substructure, andlaterally and vertically adjusted rail securing means cooperating with the abutments whereby a rail may be held in different positions of adjustment with respect to the base-plate without disturbing said base-plate or disconnecting the rail securing means.

14:. The combination with a base-plate having spaced upstanding abutments, of a rail resting directly on the base-plate or on a shim between said abutments and adjustable laterally and vertically with respect to the base-plate, rail braces disposed on opposite sides of the rail, co-acting wedges disposed between each' rail brace and the adjacent abutment, and means for adjusting said wedges toward and from each other and vertically.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST G. LIEBMANN. [1 s.]

lVitnesses:

J. D. YOAKLEY, FREDERIC B. WRIGHT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

